Will Wagenlander is Director of Planning at RVi. Based in Denver, Colorado, he has more than 20 years of experience working between multiple planning environments, creating plans that meet the needs of clients and the communities they serve. He applies his experience in land use, transportation, and engagement to build the successful relationships needed to create dynamic and complete communities.

In this article, he gives insight into the differences in working with a nonprofit client versus a private for-profit client, and how beneficial nonprofit projects can be for the overall public.

 

Creating grounded and implementable plans that meet community needs is a key goal of mine when working in various planning environments. Guiding clients through complicated built and regulatory environments is a huge part of that, whether they are a private for-profit developer or a nonprofit community-serving client.

In the case of nonprofits, some aspects of the planning approach need to be adjusted in order to meet the unique needs of nonprofit projects. A plan that includes technical, communicative, and collaborative processes is crucial; without them, you run the risk of missing out on vital opportunities for your client, such as community buy-in, regulatory advantages, and meeting or exceeding their bottom line. Since the goal of most nonprofit improvement projects is to funnel money back into the organization and the community, it’s important to understand how these projects differ from others.

How differences in planning for nonprofit and private for-profit developers affect affordable housing needs

Nonprofits and private developers do have one goal in common: Each wants to maximize the value of their land. However, private developers do this through land entitlements, rezoning, sale, and other methods. Nonprofits often achieve this by different means, such as community land trusts. Trusts can maximize the value of their land to fund infrastructure and programs for their communities.

Thoughtful nonprofit land planning can align with current and future legislation meant to support affordable housing needs in communities. Working with nonprofit clients can benefit multiple corners of a community; it also makes business sense. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is a crucial resource that supports affordable housing developments that serve a certain percentage of the area’s medium income. Additionally, many states are passing statewide affordability laws, meaning cities will have to deliver affordable housing to their residents.

In Colorado, RVi has a nonprofit client that is an affordable housing developer for other nonprofits. Typically, other nonprofits will approach our client to set up a community land trust, meaning they sell their land to our client, and our client leases their building back to the nonprofit. Our client then partners with a vertical affordable housing developer to place affordable housing on the land, using the equity of that land to fund the housing and the nonprofit.

At times, our client will seek out land to buy on the market themselves and put a land trust on top of it. They did this with a former historic women’s college in the area that was no longer in service, buying the land and transforming the dorms into affordable apartments of different sizes.

Due to emerging state-wide laws that limit the entitlement timeline of affordable housing, private for-profit developers have partnered with nonprofits housing providers to attach an affordable housing component to projects resulting in a faster entitlement process. There are many non-profit housing providers nationwide, and the opportunities to collaborate many. Being open to these types of developments and fostering these kinds of partnerships is good for business and good for communities, making a noticeable positive impact across the country and on bottom lines.

Humanize the goal to win community support and build trust

This work is meaningful and important, especially in these instances where communities successfully develop affordable housing. However, not everyone is on board. It is important to engage with all community members and organizations to build momentum and support to counter potential NIMBY perspectives often informed by misconceptions about future affordable housing residents. In many cities, the housing crisis has required the development of affordable housing communities to serve young adults, civil servants, teachers, and public safety professionals—all vital contributors to our society who deserve to live where they work. When engaging the larger community, speak to who these future residents will be and why affordability is needed. This is an important story to tell.

This storytelling extends to other groups like community leaders and decision makers, such as planning departments and government institutions. Decision makers need to understand the project, who it’s serving, and how you have engaged the larger community.

The effect of smart, empathetic planning is a better community and world

As a planner, we have the ability to ensure that the land we work on is benefiting as much of the public as possible. Being able to affect change in communities feels good. The planning process may not be the most glamorous, but the outcomes are exciting and make an impact. It’s why I, and I imagine the majority of us, became a planner—to make life better for others.